Getting Answers
Independent insurance company Answer Financial Inc. of Encino moved a step closer to gaining critical mass for its online platform with the purchase last week of InsLogic Corp., a unit of Capital One Financial Corp.
Answer Financial, with about 230,000 current policyholders, expects a 20 percent increase in customers with the purchase of InsLogic’s sales center and workforce in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Though Answer Financial is an upstart, the insurer is gaining traction by offering real-time, comparative quotes of multiple insurance carriers over the Internet.
Share Buyback
The board of Salem Communications Corp. has approved expanding the Camarillo-based Christian radio broadcaster’s share repurchase program by an additional $25 million.
“Since Jan. 3, our stock price has fallen by 20 percent, compared to a decline of 11 percent for the other radio broadcasting stocks,” said Chief Executive Edward Atsinger III in a statement. “Given the significant growth potential and underlying asset value at our (properties), we consider this stock-price weakness an excellent opportunity to create value for our shareholders by investing in our own stock.”
Salem’s board authorized an initial $25 million stock repurchase program in November 2004. As of March 1, Salem had repurchased about 1.5 million shares for approximately $24.7 million at an average price of $16.82 per share, approximately 6 percent of outstanding Class A and B shares.
The board’s authorization is subject to the company remaining in compliance with its credit facilities and bond indentures. That prevents the company from purchasing a total of more than $38.9 million in shares right away.
TCW Changes
Los Angeles money manager TCW Group Inc. updated one of its oldest convertible bond funds last week, a move that reflects the types of changes being made by the firm’s trio of new senior managers.
Jeffrey Gundlach, TCW’s chief investment officer, was named lead portfolio manager of the TCW’s Strategic Income Fund, which began operations in 1987 as the TCW Convertible Securities Fund. The fund, which has been trading at a 10 percent discount to its net asset value, is being reinvented for today’s market conditions to throw off higher income with a moderate degree of growth.
Small changes in products and marketing are reflective of TCW’s new management team, which took control on Oct. 1. Robert Beyer was named chief executive of TCW, replacing Robert Day, who continues as chairman and a director of Soci & #233;t & #233; G & #233;n & #233;rale, the firm’s majority owner.
Gundlach succeeded Beyer as chief investment officer, and William Sonneborn took the reins as president of TCW Group from Marc Stern. Sonneborn remains chief operating officer and Stern now serves as vice chairman and a director of TCW Group, while serving as a consultant to Soci & #233;t & #233; G & #233;n & #233;rale.
Univision Earnings
As they await bids for their U.S. Spanish-language media empire, executives at Univision Communications Inc. are pointing to a better-than-expected fourth quarter as proof that their franchise is desirable. The company last month announced it was considering “strategic alternatives” that include putting itself on the market.
Los Angeles-based Univision, the largest U.S.-based Spanish-language media company, last week reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates.
Univision and its TeleFutura network have joined the major broadcasters in Nielsen’s National Television Index, “providing us with a powerful tool to attract marketers that had previously been slow to advertise in Spanish,” said Ray Rodriguez, president.
In a conference call with analysts, Rodriguez said the company would not discuss progress in attracting a buyer beyond prepared comments.
Revenue for the broadcaster rose 11 percent to $514 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Net income was $27.4 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with $67.2 million or 19 cents in same period a year ago. Excluding the charges, Univision earned $83.1 million, or 25 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting a profit of 23 cents a share on revenue of $497 million.
Reinhold Sale?
Reinhold Industries Inc. announced last week that it had sought the services of Manhattan-based TM Capital Corp. to “explore strategic alternatives” including a possible sale to enhance shareholder value. The company and TM Capital had no further information available. The Santa Fe Springs-based manufacturer makes custom composites and sheet molding compounds for the aerospace industry. It has 220 full-time employees.
Beverly Hills Subway?
The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce has broken with tradition and hopped on the mass transit bandwagon.
Last week, the chamber board voted to support a proposed extension of the Metro Red Line subway through Beverly Hills with one or more stations in the city. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is pushing to extend the Red Line from its current terminus on Wilshire Boulevard at Western Avenue to the ocean.
In the past, Beverly Hills had objected to the subway on the grounds that construction would harm businesses in the city’s famous “Golden Triangle.” There also was an unspoken feeling that the subway would bring in “riff-raff” from other areas. But that attitude has changed as congestion has steadily worsened along Wilshire Boulevard.
Kate Berry, Allen Roberts Jr., Deborah Crowe, Hilary Potkewitz, Howard Fine